New England's Narrow Road

Photos From New England, My One Good Day

Recently (October 2018) I spent a week in my old hangout around Peterborough, New Hampshire. Foliage season was winding down, but there were lots of yellow and gold colors left on the trees, with some red around the lakes. My vacation was a good one, but the weather turned cold and rainy after this one good day. I spent it outdoors at my favorite lake.

Fall foliage roadside in New Hampshire — Red and orange leaves by the lake

The day I arrived in New Hampshire the weather was beautiful with temps in the seventies. Unfortunately I had been up since three in the morning dealing with airports so I was a bit tired to enjoy it.

My first full day of vacation brought another beautiful, sunny day and it was the last one in the forecast for the week! I had to take advantage of it. There were clouds, but it was beautiful weather for walking and photography. Some of my photos are dark because the sun did not come out when it should have!

Geese on the lake — Geese family on Gregg Lake

A sweet friend, who lives on a lake, had invited me to go kayaking that afternoon. I was determined not to waste the morning hours so I headed to Gregg Lake for a walk. Her lake was not far away, so I tried to plan it so I could walk and then kayak. Yikes, I was horribly out of shape, and I did pay for all that exercise the following day with some sore muscles, but it was well worth the hours spent breathing in gorgeous New England air!

bright red leaves — Some bright leaves remain

Revisiting The Bridge

Most of my old, favorite Fall photographs are from the Gregg Lake area because I lived close by at one time. I’m a bit of a nomad and have lived in many spots, but my time near the lake was special.

I walked this area in all types of weather including after snowstorms, to get my photos. Blueberry picking is good around the lake in summer and I traveled back here to do just that when I lived in Peterborough. But my favorite season was always autumn. The summer people and beach goers were gone and peace and quiet returned. Each day I watched the color change on the trees and could pick the best days to get my pictures.

bridge by the lake in fall — A favorite view of the little bridge

The picture above is one of my favorite views for photography. The lake is to the left and the water in this photo is more of a shallow pond. Kayaks can go under the road bridge, which is to my left and out of view here, and travel around this small area. The bridge in the distance connects this pond area with another shallow area of water. The road is a dirt one and is good for walking, except that it was hunting season so I did not venture into the woods, or down that road.

Quite a few years ago I made my photo of this bridge into a postcard to sell in my Zazzle store. You can see it below. That photo was taken many years ago. If I had made my journey to New England a week earlier I may have seen these bright colors. Beginning of October is when the color was usually best around the lake and I visited in mid-October. A bit late, but it couldn’t be helped.

The wooden bridge in Fall (above)- This is an old photo taken in 2008 maybe?

Gregg Lake foliage and water — Another favorite spot to photograph

I have taken many photos from the spot shown in the photo above. If you catch it right, the foliage, lake and wooden fence make a beautiful image.

The old wooden fence adds interest to the scene where the road stretches around the lake to show the beach area and a few houses beyond. A red tree grows from a small island near the shore with some yellows left on the trees roadside. This area of water is where the geese hang out and when I used this road daily, it was not unusual to have to stop my car to let the babies follow mom across the road here.

I made another postcard of this view which was taken earlier in the season. Leaves were just beginning to change, so probably early to mid-September. (See image below)

lake photography — End of summer lake photo

The hours I spent walking this road were some of the most peaceful in my tumultuous life. This area will always be special to me and any time I travel back “home”, I will make a point to take in the views around Gregg Lake. I suppose next time the view will include wind turbines. I’ll be writing about that.

Empty road around Gregg Lake — Road at the lake

Love New Hampshire For All These Reasons

After waiting a year, I am finally back home visiting all my favorite places in New Hampshire. I’ve run into old acquaintances and taken photos at my old favorite spots.

Tenney Farms produce — My Visit to Tenney Farm

I love New Hampshire for many reasons, and one is the farm stands. This late in the season (mid-October) Tenney Farms in Antrim is open fewer hours. The products are Autumn related, like pumpkins, Hubbard squash, and apple cider. Of course they have bags of apples from local orchards and I had to get some Macs.

apple, macintosh, fruit — New England Mac – delicious

The apples were quite big and extremely yummy. Macs have always been my favorite apple to pick in Fall. They are crisp and juicy when they are fresh. Usually they are not this big! If I lived here I would make a pie, but this time it will be applesauce for my daughter. I don’t have a kitchen in my rental, so have to use hers and she wants applesauce.

The wonderful cool air and pretty foliage is another thing to love about New Hampshire. Every drive is a scenic one, even if they are working on roads to get ready for winter.

Winding back roads with little traffic is also something I’ve missed. And the gorgeous homes people build up here are simply stunning in their size and landscaping.

The foliage is a bit gone by but still enjoyable. I couldn’t book my rental for the previous week, so I came a week later than I’d expected. As I walked around Gregg Lake in Antrim, I got some leaf photos and learned that the wind turbines would be coming soon! I’m wondering how the locals feel about that. (I’ll be writing more about this topic.)

And as I surveyed my surroundings at the rental I discovered a Magnolia tree and Pinky Winky hydrangea! I had one in my yard when I lived here and it was a favorite. The flowers begin white but by late fall the flowers are dark pink.

Health and well-being is on the minds of New Hampshire residents and it shows in the markets, restaurants, and health food stores. Local eateries (The Bantam Grill) use meat and produce from local farms. Organic food is easy to find, although it is not cheap.

Everyone is on the move, from joggers and hikers to neighborhood walkers. The air is cool and when the sun shines, people want to get outdoors. They know that winter is coming. But even in winter, skiing and snowboarding are popular sports. My daughter and her boyfriend just bought 4-wheelers to take advantage of the many woodland and mountain trails in the area.

The small town feel of the area is the last thing I will mention. Quaint and peaceful is the norm here. What could be better? I will be sorry to leave, but will return!

fall foliage lake bridge — Fall at the lake

Just Finished Knitting My First Pair of Socks!

They are not perfect, but they fit, and today I finished sock number two. That gives me my first finished pair of hand-knit socks.

Many years ago, when I lived in New Hampshire, I took knitting lessons from a lady named Anne, of The Wool Room. I can’t find any recent info about the shop, and Anne was up in years way back then. Tiny, local shops in New England work more by word-of-mouth than website. But my time living in that area gave me great insight into hand-crafting and becoming self-sufficient.

My lessons were about making hats. My first attempts at knitting hats were sloppy and a bit crazy, but it was fun. My neighbor took lessons with me, and she decided to knit socks for her husband. I often wonder how many pair she has made since then.

Personally, I never had the desire to knit socks. Until recently. They seemed too difficult to make, and then to wear them on your feet where no one really notices… why? I couldn’t figure out what all the sock-knitting fuss was about.

My mind is changed. I want to branch out and make clothing which is useful rather than the typical cowls and scarves I’ve been making for years. Plus, how many scarves does a person need?

Suddenly I was ready to try making socks. But I needed an easy pattern to follow. After searching online, and eventually trying one free pattern that didn’t work out, I picked up my Knitting for Dummies book. I hadn’t flipped through it’s pages in years. I wondered if it had any sock knitting information. Oh yes, it did. I chose some Madeline Tosh Vintage yarn (Rocky Mountain High is the color) from my stash and cast onto my DPNs.

basic socks pattern — The “Knitting for Dummies” book has a “Basic Socks” pattern! Yay…

Although the socks are called “basic”, I still had some trouble. Eventually, thanks to YouTube, I got through my first sock. Wow…I was thrilled.

Because I’d had trouble with another pattern once I got to the gusset area, I chose to make my Basic Socks with a short rib section just in case I ended up having to rip it all out. Since I seldom wear socks at all here in Florida, these will be more like slippers for me.

picking up stitches — Picking up stitches along the heel flap

The gusset part of the pattern that called for me to “pick up stitches” got confusing. Suddenly I had no empty needles to use! Something was wrong. I went to YouTube and watched an experienced knitter explain this part of basic sock-knitting. Her “pattern” is not exactly like the one I followed, but I got the general idea of what I was supposed to do.

Once all the stitches were on my 4 needles, I shaped the gusset, which decreases stitches to the correct size for the foot section. For this you need to know how to SSK (slip, slip, knit) and K2tog (knit two stitches together).

pair of hand-knit socks — They are not perfect, but they fit!

I will never wear these socks with shoes as they are a bit thick. I did wash them in the machine, to see how they held up. They came out fine, but a bit fuzzy, so I will hand wash from now on. It’s a good idea to hand-wash fine knits no matter what.

Knitting the Typha Cowl in Shades of Pink

Finished knitting the Typha cowl. I had trouble figuring the gauge for this because I was not very experienced, but I should have gone up at least one size in needles.

Two tone cowl in lace pattern — Finished Cowl

I am knitting a cowl in shades of pink – the finished photo above most closely matches the actual colors. This pattern comes from designer Kirsten Kapur and is named “Typha”. The link takes you to the Ravelry page where the pattern is sold as a download.

The cowl is a simple one to create, with the first part being a simple garter stitch. One row of knitting and the next of purling. After that, a simple repeating lace pattern is followed to finish off the cowl. The pictures below came out very “Pink”.

pink cowl knitting — Done a few rows of the lace part of the cowl.

The second part of the cowl is a lace pattern. After knitting a shawl in the Through the Loops Knit Along, this pattern is very simple to follow. And I believe that most knitters with some experience can easily follow the pattern. It is fun to do.

I will admit that getting started with this pattern was not easy. For some reason my cowl is coming out much smaller than the pattern implies (Go up 1 pr 2 needles size next time!). I did do a swatch to check gauge, but I am not familiar with figuring out gauge and finding it with a lace pattern threw me off. (Now I know to knit the pattern in a 4×4 square to measure for gauge.)

Consequently when I tried to cast on (for first the smaller cowl, and then the larger) the yarn did not reach, so I had to begin over.

My yarn is obviously thinner than what Kirsten used to create her cowl. The yarn she used is Fibre Company “Meadow”, which is listed as “heavier lace”, so I bought “heavy lace yarn” from Miss Babs, thinking it would be the same. I guess not. Live and learn… that is my motto, and once again, I have learned from making a mistake.

So my “long” version will actually be short, and probably not long enough to wrap twice. My plan was to make the shorter version of the cowl to give to my daughter, but now I will keep this one and try again to make a correct size for her.

I do plan to make this cowl again using a heavier yarn and trying to figure out my gauge. It’s a beautiful and unique cowl in the two colors, which gives us many color choices.